Junior School

LIVING LIFE TO A DIFFERENT BEAT BEAT

Since the COVID-19 virus arrived in New Zealand, we have all had to adapt and make shifts, changes and adjustments that we may never have had to before. Adaptability is one of the most important life skills for us all to develop. As parents, we often focus on our children's levels of attainment, making sure they excel and perform. With our ever-changing environment, health needs and emotional dilemmas, we ourselves may struggle to adapt. Sometimes life presents dramatic changes, such as the COVID-19 virus, which tests our adaptability and resilience. When obstacles are presented, we want our children to be proactive and confident, using strategies that can affect them for the better.

Through her research of the latest developments in neuroscience, Madeline Levine, PhD, is a psychologist with over 40 years' experience as a clinician, consultant and educator. She's also a New York Times bestselling author. Through her research of the latest developments in neuroscience, Levine identifies the skills that children need to succeed in the future. She notes that adaptability is one of the most important of these skills. In fact, research has determined that adaptability is a better predictor of overall success than resilience. Adaptability refers to a child’s initial response or reaction to new events,

people and ideas. There are three parts to adaptability: behavioural, cognitive and emotional.

• Behavioural adaptability involves adjusting one’s actions or behaviour in response to uncertainty and novelty. • Cognitive adaptability involves adjusting one’s thinking. • Emotional adaptability involves adjusting one’s positive and negative emotions.

Children who are more adaptable tend to move smoothly from one activity to the next, they adjust more quickly to change. Children with this temperament seem to go with the flow and be more flexible. They look forward to new schedules, activities and ideas. As parents, we may need to encourage them to slow down and think before they act.

Children who are less adaptable have a more difficult time coping with changes in routines and schedules. They may have tantrums or cry more often than others their age. They may be slow to adapt to new activities, ideas or outings. They may be less comfortable around new people or even new items in the home. Children with this temperament thrive on predictability of routines, which means they are less likely to rush into dangerous situations and are less influenced by peers.

Across your daughter’s lifetime her world will change and change again. She is likely to see industry reshaped, huge medical advancements, and enormous changes to technology. In her own life, she has begun school, will transition to further education or work, move out of home, begin – or end – relationships, maybe have children, and retire from work. To navigate this evershifting world, your daughter will need to be adaptable.

So, how can we help students become more adaptable? At school, students will often be faced with different ways of learning, a different teacher, new girls in their class, new academic skills and tasks, fluid social group dynamics, and new sporting or creative challenges.

We can encourage students to seek out new or more information or take a different course of action when faced with a new situation. Even just something as simple as thinking about the opportunities a new situation might create or not assuming that change is a bad or undesirable thing can make a big difference. Students also need to be encouraged to learn to minimise disappointment and maximise enjoyment when circumstances change. There might also be opportunities to explicitly draw students' attention to new tasks as they arise and guide or scaffold them through the behaviours, thoughts and emotions essential to succeed in those tasks. For example, as students make the transition from one year group to another, or embark on a new topic, teachers may identify ways students can adjust their behaviours, such as increasing effort, asking for help, controlling their thinking by challenging pessimism or self-doubt, and managing their emotions through keeping fear or anxiety in check. As with most skills, young people greatly benefit from clear and direct guidance from competent and caring adults.

Change, uncertainty, variability, transition and novelty are a reality of life. The extent to which young people effectively respond to this reality will have a significant bearing on their life course. Encouragingly, research and practice show that young people can successfully adjust their behaviour, thought and emotion, and can be taught how to be more adaptable. They can then better embrace the opportunities of their ever-changing world.

Sue Brewin, Head of Junior School